MICHIGAN GHOST TOWN: The Old Buildings in Chase, Lake County

The small village of Chase still exists in Lake County but is considered to be a ghost town.....and a nice handful of old buildings still stand for all to see (SEE PHOTOS BELOW.

After being founded in 1867 (as "Greendale"), by 1872 Chase had a total of ten families living there. Thanks to Michigan's burgeoning logging industry, Chase grew to around 1,000 people by the mid-1880's. The town eventually had a blacksmith; boot & shoe establishment; two churches; dry goods; general store; gunsmith; hotel; post office; two sawmills; public school and a shingles, lumber & lath shop.

As with almost all of the lumber towns of northern Michigan, Chase also lost much of it's population when the logging industry slowed down.

Today, Chase is the only village in the entire township that has a population of any significance, with only a few hundred people (the entire township itself only boasted 1,194 people according to the 2000 census). The only other 'town' listed is Summitville, which is a bonafide ghost town with NOTHING left except a dirt road intersection (more on Summitville later!).

Chase is located on US-10 and it's worth the drive to see these old buildings that intermingle with the remaining population (SEE PHOTOS BELOW).

If you add this to your roadtrip itinerary, I think you'll enjoy your few minutes in Chase.
Make sure you visit these old towns while they're still around!